Sunday, July 20, 2014

Revisionist List: Top Ten of 2009

2009 is up next. Spots 1-3 were no-brainers and unchanged since 2009. Propagandhi keeps their title (from me) of 'best band on the planet' with a record that somehow tops 2005's #1 album Potemkin City Limits. It's somehow, unbelievably, more compelling. Maybe slightly catchier than its predecessor and containing Todd's best composition to date, "Night Letters." An epic, genre-busting thrash punk masterpiece. Of course a new Propagandhi album means that every other band is competing for number two. Baroness and Doomriders each came close with their second and best records. Both are unbelievably thick and heavy, with undeniable hooks that never grow tired, even after forty listens.I know the Death recordings are from 1974, but this is the first time ever on an album or even heard by 99.99% of the public, ever, so it counts as new. Megadeth released their best record in seventeen years (and as of 2014, their last even semi-decent one) and Mustaine out-shreds most thrashers half his age. Woods of Ypres released the bleakest and most unique metal record of the year while Red Fang released the funnest rocker of an LP. A couple of today's best punk bands kept the quality high (DTM, TBR) while The Marked Men are so goddamn good that they released their weakest record by far but still beat out like twenty others on my runners-up list (No Friends, Cloak/Dagger, The Spits, Jay Reatard, Goatwhore, Immortal, Vektor). So here's 2009, as I see it now, five years later:

Top Ten Albums of 2009

1. PROPAGANDHI | Supporting Caste(G7/Smallman)

2. BARONESS | Blue Record (Relapse)

3. DOOMRIDERS | Darkness Comes Alive(Deathwish)

4. DEATH | For the Whole World to See (Drag City)

5. DEAD TO ME | African Elephants (Fat Wreck Chords)

6. MEGADETH | Endgame(Roadrunner)

7. WOODS OF YPRES | Woods 4: The Green Album(Practical Art/Relapse)

8. RED FANG | Red Fang(Wäntage USA/Sargent House)

9. NO FRIENDS | No Friends(No Idea)

9. TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET | They Came From the Shadows(Fat Wreck Chords)